Jamie Corr, formerly South Forsyth and Lambert's head baseball coach, has been hired to serve as the first athletic director at Denmark High School. The hire was approved at Tuesday's school board meeting.

Denmark principal Heather Gordy was instrumental in bringing Corr back to Forsyth County: She was an assistant principal at South and Lambert during Corr's time at both schools, and when she was named to her current position in February of this year, Corr reached out and the two got to talking about the position.

Gordy toyed with the idea of Corr coaching the Danes' baseball program, but that didn't become a serious thought, given the county's policy of no longer hiring athletic directors to coach individual sports. (South AD Keith Gravitt, who also coaches girls basketball, was grandfathered in to the current system.) She believes that Corr's relationship-building abilities, charisma and track record will be valuable in administration as much as coaching, though.

"He's got what it takes because he's got such good credibility," Gordy said. "People will follow him, which is important, especially in the role of athletic director."

That credibility comes from on-field results. Corr led South and Lambert's programs to unprecedented success as head coach, leading the War Eagles to a state runner-up finish in 2009 and quickly turning the Longhorns into a powerhouse, peaking with a 36-2 record and Class 6A state championship in 2014. Corr coached future MLB pitcher Chris Rowley at South and top MLB Draft prospect Seth Beer at Lambert.

Corr said that he'll miss coaching baseball, but he's also excited to help build an athletic department and get into administration full-time.

"I realized that I got the same satisfaction out of helping mentor younger coaches as I did mentoring my players," Corr said.

Corr joined the college coaching ranks after the Longhorns' state title season, taking the position as head baseball coach at Florida SouthWestern College with the task of restarting the program after a 17-year hiatus. The Bucs finished 22-28 in 2016, Corr's first season with on-field action, and were 23-31 in 2017. Corr's squads at FSW featured a number of former Forsyth County players: There were three former Lambert players on the team in 2016 and 2017, and former Lambert infielder Josh McAllister and West Forsyth pitcher Jay Thompson joined the program this fall.

Denmark is set to open in the fall of 2018 in the southwestern part of the county.